


The Feeling I've Been Here With you Before

by ZanneReid27



Series: The Fyne [2]
Category: Community, others - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-10
Updated: 2013-05-25
Packaged: 2017-11-28 19:49:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/678246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZanneReid27/pseuds/ZanneReid27
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Annie is house-sitting for Shirley when she and Andre take the kids on vacation. On night two she begs Jeff to come keep her company because the house is super-creepy. This is a AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Shirley's househunt

**Author's Note:**

> This is from a Ficcy Sunday prompt post by crittab, who also beta it

Shirley Bennett was in her kitchen humming to herself while frosting some brownies that she was planning to sell at her shop. Life had never been better for Shirley. She had a beautiful family, a great group of friends, her sandwich shop was booming and her brownies were voted best in the greater Denver area. Things were even looking up at church; they had 20 new people at their last service.

But the cherry on top of her life Sunday was her new house. Things were getting tight in her small three bedroom, two bath, ranch-style home. Her boys were getting too big to share a room; Jordan seemed to be growing taller every day and now at 12 was taller than Annie. Shirley was also having to use her kitchen as an office because of the success of her business. After a several long talks, she and Andre decided it was time to upgrade.

Two Months Earlier

"Andre, Sweetie, I think you may have missed a turn," Shirley said nervously. They were driving to meet their realtor, Roseanne, in a neighborhood on the outskirts of Greendale, but for the past six minutes they could see nothing but trees.

"Babe, I'm not lost," Andre sighed.

"I wasn't saying you were lost."

"You were implying it."

"Maybe we should turn back and look for that turn you missed."

"Shirley, I haven't missed the turn. I'm following the directions that Roseanne gave us perfectly."

"There's no shame in being wrong, Sugarboots. Let's turn around, just to be sure."

"No. We're not lost, I didn't miss the turn, and man I miss your tom tom," Andre snapped back.

"Poor little guy, he didn't stand a chance!" Shirley said dryly and gave her husband a sad little laugh.

Andre smiled lightly back at her. "Troy and Abed "borrowed" it for one of Abed's film projects, and the darn thing hasn't worked right since!"

"I'm going to call Roseanne," Shirley said, offhandedly.

"Babe, that's not necessary," Andre said in a frustrated sigh.

Shirley ignored her husband and called their realtor anyway.

"Hi Roseanne, it's Shirley Bennett. We're on Karloff Street and I think we may have missed the turn. We've seen nothing but trees for about a mile."

"No, no, no—you're going the right way. You should see the turn any minute now," Roseanne assured her.

And sure enough, as Roseanne said it, they saw their turn: Vincent Drive.

Vincent Drive turned onto a bridge. The bridge was small but sturdy and hung over a quiet brook. Shirley couldn't believe that this place was only 20 minutes away from Greendale Community College.

Once over the bridge, they could see the place off in the distance. It was breath-taking. It was huge, more like a mansion than a house. It looked like something out of one of those romantic old movies that her mom used to watch. The house was made of small blue-gray stones and on the right side of there was a tall cylindrical tower that was linking it and the garage. Andre pulled up in front of the residence and parked the car. Shirley got out of the car and observed more of the details of the house. It was large and square with the first floor being longer than the second and third.

The yard surrounding the house was lush, green, and seemed well-maintained. Leading up to the house was a red brick path, which turned into a small staircase. The staircase had an iron railing that continued along the patio. The patio seemed small for the place, only about two feet longer than the door on each side. The entryway boasted huge mahogany double doors. Both doors were intricately carved, and at about head level on each door was a large blue-green stained glass circle. There were three narrow windows on each side of the doors.

"Awww, it's nice," Shirley said in awe.

"Yeah, but it might be a little far though, Babe," Andre said, trying to remain logical despite his wife's glee. "The kids will probably have to change schools."

Andre knocked at the door.

"Sweetie, don't worry. We're just looking. It's not like the house is going to magically have everything we want and we will just totally fall in love with the place," she said, her enthusiasm having died down a little. "And even if it did… there's no way it's within our budget."

"Yeah, the chances of that happening are like a million to one."

Shirley giggled. "Billion to one."

Andre laughed. "No, no—trillion to one."

The happy couple laughed as the front door opened, revealing a smiling Roseanne.

"Oh, hi you guys. How was the drive up?"

Roseanne Perry was a tall, blonde, hippie-ish woman in her late 50's. She was a bit of an airhead, but she was a decent enough realtor.

"It was fine! So, tell us about the house," Shirley said excitedly.

"Of course! Come on in, and we'll get started."

The Bennett's followed her around the main floor, listening excitedly as Roseanne began detailing all that the home had to offer.

"It's a five bedroom, five bathroom, with a basement and attic. The house was built in 1903 by General Guntram "Butch" Swanson as a wedding present to his favorite daughter Belzora. Many of the structures he hand carved himself, in fact. The front doors were carved from mahogany that he chopped down himself while traveling in South America, and for the glass, he went to Tiffany Studios in New York to commission the shade of blue to match his daughter's eyes."

She pushed open the back door and led them out onto a sprawling patio.

"And here we have the back yard," Roseanne said as they stepped off the patio and into the yard.

The yard was perfect for them. First, there was a brick garden area, and past that was a big lush lawn. On the lawn there was a fancy tree house and a building that caught Shirley's attention.

"Umm, excuse me, Roseanne, what is that building in the corner? Is that a greenhouse?" Shirley asked.

"Actually, it's an indoor swimming pool," Roseanne explained. "Would you like to take a look?"

"Oh, yes! We'd love to look at our pool!" Shirley said enthusiastically.

"Babe, we don't own this place yet, and we may not even buy," Andre reminded his wife.

"I know, Andre, but there's just something about this place that feels like home," Shirley said dreamily.

"I know what you mean, but we need to play it cool," Andre whispered back, not wanting to tip Roseanne off as to the extent of their interest.

"Okay, I'm just excited."

"You and me both, Babe. You and me both."

So far the tour of the first floor had gone rather well. The house seemed to check off most of their needs. It was beautiful and spacious and had plenty of room for the family to grow into. It had the most charming details too, like the little flower lanterns in the foyer that Shirley just loved. The appliances and plumbing had seen better days, but it was nothing that Troy couldn't fix. Besides, the appliances at their house weren't bad, so they could just bring them along when they moved.

For Andre and Shirley, the rest of the day seemed to go by rather quickly, as they were already sold on the property before they even made it to the second floor, which held a massive master suite and two smaller bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. It also had an office that was just perfect for managing the business side of Shirley's Sandwiches. Upstairs, on the third floor, there were two more bedrooms and another bathroom. The tower turned out to be an observatory with a large, old telescope.

While Shirley and Andre admired all that the home had to offer, Roseanne sighed in relief. She had purposely told the pair that the house was new on the market, when in fact she had been trying to sell it for more than 16 months. If they found out why the house was on the market for so long, they would never buy the place. It was all just rumors anyway. That story about the past owners couldn't be true… there was no evidence. What good would it do to tell them some silly old gossip? They were a big family, they needed the space.

Following their tour, Shirley and Andre knew that they had to have this house. They enlisted Jeff to help them negotiate the price down to just under their budget, and Roseanne was all too happy to oblige if it meant getting rid of this property. Jeff was even able to talk the owner into buying all new utilities.

Present

Shirley smiled to herself as she frosted her brownies. The family had been living in their beautiful new home for about two months and had settled in comfortably. She had never felt so blessed.

Shirley's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing.

She abandoned the brownies she was frosting to retrieve her cell phone from her purse. She didn't recognize the number.

"Hello?" No response, but Shirley could hear a man heaving breaths on the other end. "Hello? Who is this?" Shirley asked. She was starting to get a little uneasy. The mystery man said nothing, just kept on breathing, in and out. Now Shirley was getting annoyed. "I know you're there. I can hear you breathing." Silence. "Okay, this isn't funny," Shirley said, irritated. She was both creeped out and angry at this man. "I'm hanging up now," she warned before finally ending the call.

Shirley just stood there for a good few seconds before shaking off her discomfort and returning to her brownies. She was shocked to see that someone had used their hands to scoop big chunks from the middle of several that she had already finished frosting.

"Oh, boys, seriously! Elijah, Jordan, come here NOW!"

The boys entered the kitchen.

"Boys, what have I told you about this?"

"About what, Mom?" Elijah questioned.

"Don't play games with me. About my brownies, that's what," she grilled.

The boys looked at the pan of ruined brownies.

"I didn't do that." Jordan said.

"Neither did I," added Elijah.

"Boys, what have I told you about lying? If you sin, it hurts Jesus and our souls."

"But Mom, we're not lying," Jordan insisted.

"Really? Then who did it, the Invisible Man?" Shirley questioned.

"What's this about the Invisible man?" Andre asked, entering the kitchen.

"Daddy, Mommy's acting crazy," Elijah said. Jordan whacked his brother. "Ow!"

"Jordan, don't hit your brother," Andre said in an authoritative tone. "Now what's going on here?"

"Andre, look what the boys did," Shirley showed her husband the tray of destroyed brownies.

"Mmm, cream cheese frosting," Andre said sticking his finger in the frosting and licking it off.

"Andre!" Shirley said in horror. The boys took this opportunity to evacuate the kitchen. "Boys, get back here!" Shirley shouted after them.

"Let them go, babe. I need to talk to you about something and it would be a lot easier without the kids around," Andre explained.

"But Andre, my brownies," Shirley said frustrated.

"The boys and I will help you make another batch of brownies to sell at the shop and we'll eat this batch for dessert tonight. Babe. What's wrong? You don't usually get this upset over brownies," Andre questioned, worried for his wife.

"I don't know," Shirley sighed. "I got this weird call earlier, and now I'm all agitated."

"A weird call? Do you want to talk about it?" Andre offered, concerned.

"No," Shirley said adamantly, not want to think about it anymore.

"Are you sure?" Andre questioned.

"Yes, what did you want to talk to me about?" Shirley said, changing the subject.

"Oh yeah, um, they're changing the location of the family reunion again," Andre said calmly.

"Where now, Durango? Lord help me, if I have to drive those kids to Durango, I won't be responsible for my actions," Shirley only half joked.

"No, it's not in Durango."

'Thank God," Shirley sighed in relief.

"It's in San Diego," Andre said, cringing.

"WHAT?!" Shirley yelled. "As in California?"

"Yeah," Andre said, uncomfortably.

"How do they expect us find a hotel? To book a flight? The reunion is less than a week away!"

"Well, apparently they changed the reunion to San Diego weeks ago, but forgot to tell us."

"Of course they did," Shirley grumbled, knowing full well it was no mistake.

"My Aunt Amy said she is happy to let as stay with her and Uncle Ralph in a beach house they rented." Amy and Ralph were the kindest people Shirley had ever met, and she knew that they weren't lying when they said they'd be happy to have them, but she still didn't feel right about accepting such a generous offer.

"We couldn't do that," Shirley said. "I don't want to intrude on Amy and Ralph's space."

"That's what I said, but Amy insists we stay with them and that they have more than enough space for all of us," Andre insisted. "I think Amy may want to kidnap Ben," he joked with a small laugh.

"Well, I guess if they the space…" Shirley finally allowed, deciding it pointless to argue when it was clear that Amy would not take no for an answer. Shirley smiled."Honey?"

"Yes, Babe?" Andre said sweetly back.

"We're going to San Diego!" she squeaked.

"I know!" Andre said enthusiastically.

Then Shirley sobered up a little bit. "We're going to have to get a house sitter."


	2. Good afternoon Greendale

"Good afternoon Greendale. As many of you know next week is spring break and for…" The Deans voice started to break. "…and for some of you it's… it will be your last here…" Sniff. "…here with us at Gre… at Greendale." The Dean burst into tears over the intercom. "I'm sorry." Sniff. "I thought I could get through it…" Sniff. "…this time…" Sniff. "I was wrong."

"Guys, can you believe that the semester is almost half over?" Britta asked. "Think, after next week we'll only have three months left as a study group."

"I know. That's why I think we should use our last spring break together to have one last great madcap adventure as a study group, complete with danger," Abed nodded at Troy, "and romance," he winked at Annie. Annie flushed then gave Abed a shy little smile. Meanwhile, Jeff had started to grip his phone so hard that one of the buttons popped off and hit Britta in the head. "I'm thinking Goonies meet Raiders of the Lost Ark."

"Oh, that sounds, umm… fun Abed, but Andre and I have already made plans.

"That's okay Shirley, I didn't plan on inviting you anyway," said Abed.

"Abed!" Shirley and Annie exclaimed at the same time.

"Ow, Jeff did you just break your phone?" Britta asked, scowling.

"What, no…my phone is fine." Jeff shoved what was left of his phone in his pocket.

"Dude I saw the whole thing, you totally just broke your phone," Troy chimed in.

"Troy, don't encourage Britta." Jeff said firmly.

"Abed why would you exclude Shirley?" Annie asked.

"I know I may not be as cool as the rest of you, but I like madcap adventures as much as the next girl," Shirley protested.

"Jeff, there are pieces of your phone all over the floor," Britta pointed out. "Jeff, show us your phone," Britta demanded, smiling at Jeff's expense.

"I didn't exclude you because you're not cool, Shirley," Abed said, coolly. "I actually think you're very cool."

"Oh? Then why, may I ask, were you not planning on inviting me?" Shirley demanded.

"I'm not showing you my phone," Jeff insisted.

"Why, 'cause you're guilty? I see the blood of your poor cell phone all over your hands," Britta said in a mock dramatic fashion.

"No, I'm not showing you my phone because this is stupid and CELL PHONES DON'T BLEED!" Jeff exclaimed.

"I wasn't planning on inviting you because you have the most to lose," Abed explained.

"Poor Jeff's cell phone," Troy sniffed. "You didn't stand a chance. Not one chance!"

"Oh, thanks…I think," said Shirley, unsurely.

"Troy, stop crying," said Jeff. "Look what you did Britta; you made Troy cry."

Britta frowned. "No I didn't. If anyone made Troy cry it's you, cell phone murderer!" she exclaimed.

"Abed, what do mean by Shirley having more to lose?" Annie asked, offended. "I'm only 23. I've got my whole life ahead of me; don't I have a lot to lose too?"

"Yes, but Shirley's the only one in the group that has a family to take care of," Abed explained, as if it was the most basic thing in the world. "I wasn't kidding when I said there'd be danger, and I can't risk your kids losing their mother. Not on my watch." Annie and Shirley stared at Abed a few moments in stunned silence.

"What's the matter Jeff, did Gwyneth cancel your "date" because she had to work the pole tonight?" Britta teased.

"Don't be silly Brittles, Derek called to cancel because he had to work the pole tonight… because they're gay." Jeff, Britta and Troy scoffed in disgust.

"Gwyneth? Really, Britta? Gwyneth? That's the best stripper name you could come up with?" Jeff questioned, disappointedly.

"Whatever. Thinking up names in the moment is hard. I'd like to see you do better!"

"Ok fine, Tiffanee, spelled with two E's."

"Amber, also spelled with Two E's," Troy chimed in.

"Amber spelled any way," Jeff allowed.

"Honeysuckle."

"Good one Troy, ..Cherry Daiquiri."

"Tangerine."

"Spiced cider."

"Cinnamon."

"Ginger."

"Sugar."

"Nutmeg."

"Umm, Abed…" Shirley attempted.

"Pepper."

"Yes, Shirley?" Abed asked, ignoring the banter of his friends around them.

"Saffron."

"What exactly are you planning on doing?" Shirley asked.

"Cumin."

"Three words: Stonie Man Fest." This was met with another stunned silence from Annie and Shirley.

"Clove."

"Okay, now you are just naming random spices," Britta jumped in.

"Yes Britta, we are. Why? Because that's how easy it is to come up with stripper names," Jeff taunted.

"Or maybe it's because you're gross," Britta said, disgusted with her male friends.

"Umm Abed, I'm a little afraid to ask, but what's the Stonie Man Fest?" Annie asked.

"Stonie Man Fest is a weeklong event where people from all over the country go to Pawnee, Indiana in search of the legendary Stonie Man. He's like the Bigfoot of Pawnee, but instead of being a giant ape he's one part rock, the other part man, and all parts cool."

"Oh, well that doesn't sound too dangerous," Shirley said sweetly.

"People from all over the country… Abed how big is the Stonie Man Festival, anyway?" Annie asked, curiously.

"Oh, guys I got one!" Pierce exclaimed enthusiastically. "Try this mother on for size: Zelgadis," Pierce said proudly. Troy, Jeff and Britta silently pondered this for a few moments.

"Don't know. This is actually the first Stonie Man Fest. Troy and I want to be part of the first one ever."

"Come on guys, Zelgadis!" Pierce repeated. He was getting impatient.

"Yeah, it works," Jeff allowed.

"It's a bit weird but I could see it," said Troy.

"I guess it works," Britta accepted.

"We plan on roughing it, so were bringing nothing but a camera, our wits, and our will to live."

"That, and an awesome tent and a butt load of beef jerky," Troy chimed in, having forgotten all about Jeff's broken cell phone.

"That's what she said."

"Eww, Pierce, gross," Annie said in a disgusted tone.

"What? I'm just saying what everyone else was thinking," the old man defended himself.

"No one was thinking that!" Jeff said annoyed.

"I don't want anyone coming unless you're willing to risk your life in pursuit of the truth," said Abed.

"Yeah, where going all Destination Truth style," Troy said excitedly. Destination Truth was Troy and Abed's third favorite summertime reality based TV show, and while it was no Cougartown or Inspector Spacetime, they still thought it was pretty cool.

"Who's in? Annie?" Abed asked, hopefully.

"Sorry guys, I'm going to have to take a rain check. I have to work and I also promised the Dean that I'd help him reorganize his closet during the break."

Jeff smiled; his mood had suddenly improved. "He originally asked me." He shuddered. "I declined. There's no way I'm spending another break doing work at this school."

"That's too bad," Abed said sadly.

"Annie, since you're not going, I was hoping you could do me a favor," Shirley asked.

"Of course, Shirley, what do you need?"

"I was hoping you could housesit for me while Andre, the kids and I are out of town at Andre's family reunion in San Diego?"

"Of course! I'd be happy to," Annie said with a smile.

"Thank you so much Annie. It's going to be the first time the whole family has all been together since Andre and I got remarried." Shirley said, giving Annie a quick hug. "I don't know what we would have done if you said no, it doesn't feel right leaving the house empty while where gone," Shirley told Annie.

"This is probably a long shot now," Abed quietly glanced over at Annie before turning his attention to Jeff, "but Jeff, how about you? Are you in or out?"

"Hmm, spending my spring break risking my life wandering around the woods in nowhereville, Indiana in search of something that doesn't exist… I think I'm going to have to pass," Jeff eventually said.

"Britta?" Abed asked.

"Normally I would jump at the opportunity to go to something called Stonie Man Fest and to be one with Mother Earth, but I also have to work," Britta said, a little sadly. "And besides, my cat Peanut Butter has been really sick lately, so I'm going to have to keep a close eye on her."

"Well boys I guess it will be just the three of us," Pierce said, joyfully.

Abed looked down at his paper, trying to avoid looking at Pierce, while Troy looked at Britta and tried to change the subject.

"Sorry about your cat Britta. Maybe I should make her another PB&J sandwich. She seems to like it when we give her one."

"You've been giving my cat a PB&J? Wait, what kind of jelly did you use?"

"Umm, grape of course, because it the best," Troy said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh my god, Troy how could you?!" Britta exclaimed.

"Wait a minute; you guys weren't planning on inviting me," Pierce suddenly clued in.

"Troy! Grapes are poisonous to cats. That's why Peanut Butter was sick, because you poisoned her!" Britta yelled at her boyfriend.

"Well, if you didn't want your cat to eat jelly you shouldn't have named her Peanut Butter!" Troy cried.

"I didn't think you would want to come," Abed attempted damage control.

"What? That's preposterous! What gave you that idea?" Pierce demanded.

"The last time we went camping, you left early and went to a hotel. You also said, and I quote, "I'll never go camping with you MoFos again"," Abed explained.

"That was just because of the fight," Pierce retorted. "And besides, Jeff hates camping more than I do, but you invited him," Pierce said, grumpily.

"Yes, but with the right motivation Jeff would have come, regardless of his hatred of camping." Abed then glanced over at Jeff and Annie.

"Troy it's okay, you didn't know," Britta said, trying to comfort a crying Troy. "Hey, I'll get you a list of all the thing my cats can't eat, so you'll know what not to feed them," she offered.

"Okay, thanks Britta. And I'm sorry for almost killing your cat."

"It's fine Troy, I know you'd never hurt any of my cats on purpose."

"What do you mean by "the right motivation," Abed?" Annie asked looking at Abed then back to Jeff. Jeff avoided her gaze. Luckily for Jeff, Pierce saved him from the answer.

"Fine I'm going to go to the Rocky Man Fest by myself and I'm going to go in style," Pierce announced.

"It's Stonie Man Fest," Abed corrected him.

"I don't care!" Pierce exclaimed as he stormed out.

"I'm going to leave too. I have an hour and a half before my next class, and I need to buy a new Blackberry," Jeff said, taking his leave from the table.

"I knew it!" Troy and Britta exclaimed


	3. 1948

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is from a Ficcy Sunday prompt post by crittab, (who also beta it) it not only my first Jeff/Annie fanfic, it as so going to be the longest fanfiction I every wrote( the other fanfic I wrote year ago. They were short Doctor who Drabble that were terrible and I never published them. I hope you in joy this next chapter.To enhance the experiences, play Blue Moon sung by Billy Eckstine while reading the first part of the chapter.

1948

A man stepped out of his house and onto his patio; inside a party was in full swing. He ignored the sounds of Blue Moon emanating from inside his home; he was searching for something. He walked to the edge of the deck and looked into his yard. It was a clear, bright night; there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the moon hung full in the night sky; he could see his whole backyard as clear as day. Suddenly a sneeze came from the old tree house. The man smiled, he had found what he was looking for. The man walked across the yard to the tree house.

"Nora," the man said, looking up into the tree house.

No response.

"Nora, I know your there, I heard you sneeze."A moment passed and then the face of a young girl of about 14 looked out the window and glared down at the man.

"Pumpkin, why are you hiding in a tree and not at the party?" the man asked, smiling. "You don't what to be rude to our guests, do you?"

"Yes, I do," Nora said, her face as red as her hair and her eyes dulled from tears. "Father, why did they have to have their party here?" she asked, pouting.

The man, Arthur Tisdall, frowned at this. "Nora, I thought you and Jeffery were friends. I thought you'd be happy for him and would want to throw him a going away party."

"He's going to go to that school," she said in a venomous sob. "He's going to meet some tall, beautiful girl with green eyes and perfectly curled blonde hair and she'll sing like Doris Day and he'll fall in love with her and they will get married and we'll never be together."

Arthur looked up at his crying daughter.

"Well that is a possibility," he said honestly. He heard his daughter let out a small sob. "Nora come down here, I need to talk to you about something," he said softly.

Nora didn't move.

"Nora, come down here now or I'll come up," he said sternly

This got her moving. "Fine," she said in a huff. She climbed down the ladder and faced her father. Arthur looked over his daughter; her dress was wrinkled and dirty, her hair was already starting to lose it shape and become flat, her cheeks were damp from tears and her eyes were bloodshot.

"Oh pumpkin," he sighed, wrapping her up in a hug. She cried softly in to his chest. When she was done, he loosened his arms around her, but still held her arms and looked down in to her eyes.

"Pumpkin, you know you're beautiful, right?" He questioned. "You look just like your mother. Well except for your eyes." He smiled. "No, you got those from me." He laughed. "And I got them from my mother, and she got them from her mother."

He caressed his daughter's cheek."Those big, blue, virtuous eyes. You know they're fighting eyes, or at least that's what my father used to say," he said proudly. "People with our eyes are always fighting for truth and justice; we got that from your great grandmother." He chuckled lightly. "It's also where we got our love for high places," he said, pointing up at the tree. "Now, Nora, one day you're going to meet someone who's going to look into your eyes and see how special you are and love you for it… that may be Jeffery, but it may be someone else."

"But father, I don't want it to be someone else," Nora protested.

"You feel like that now, but in the future you may feel differently," he said wisely. "That's the thing about the future, you never know what's going to happen and that can be scary, but if we knew everything that was going to happen, life would be boring."

"But I'd want a boring life if I could have it with Jeffery," she said stubbornly. "I had It all planned out, but then he got accepted to that stupid school in New York and its all for nothing."

"A plan?" he said in false surprise. "When I was a young man I had a plan. I was determined to marry this blonde by the name of Charrisa Lorie. Now, Charrisa hated my guts but that didn't stop me from pursuing her. I'd made a plan and I was going to fulfill it whether she liked it or not.

"I tried everything to win her over but nothing I did seemed to make a difference with her. You see she was just as stubborn as I was and she had decided to hate me, for some reason," he said vaguely, not want to bring up the messy details of why Charrisa really hated him to his young daughter.

"After a while it became more of a game to see who would cave first. It went on like this for a year or two, before she got sick of the whole thing and decided to skip town. Now, being that I was young and foolish, I followed her. I followed her all the way to a little island off the coast of the English Channel where she eventually gave in." He moved a stray hair from his daughters face. "And after two miserable months together, she ran off to London with a cello player. I felt so defeated that I wound up trying to drink my loss away. The next morning I woke up in my landladies' stables with a splitting headache and a 20 dollar tab at the local pub." He gave a dry laugh. "I was feeling mighty bad for myself… and that's when I saw a radiant angel," he said drawing out his words. "While she fetched me some water, I realized I knew this angel. In fact, I'd played cards with her every Sunday evening since I'd been there. She was my landladies' young niece, a girl I'd known the whole time I was in England."He laughed. "I had been too busy fighting with Charrisa to notice the most beautiful woman I'd ever met." He looked up to see his wife on the patio smiling at them. "Long story short, we were married little more than a year later." He finished his story with a proud smile.

"Now, pumpkin, what I'm trying to tell you is that we never know what fate will deal us; we just have to follow our hearts and hope for the best." He smiled at his wife. "Now, why don't you go with your mother and let her fix your hair and get you a new dress, so you can have a dance with Jeffery before the night ends," he suggested warmly.

"Okay Pop," Nora said with a big smile, feeling a little better about things. She walked over to her mother with her father a few steps behind.

All of a sudden there was a large flash of light and then a loud bang. Her mother let out the most bone chilling scream she had ever heard; it didn't even sound human and it ran right though her.

Nora froze, she was afraid to look back. She could hear her mother's hysteric cries for help but she didn't move a muscle. People from the party rushed outside to see what was happening. They all stopped just a few feet in front of her. Most of them ran right back inside, while others were frozen in their tracks. Nora could smell something fowl in the air, like burned meat. "Mom must have burned the rooster again," she thought to herself.

Jeffery came outside and ran to Nora when he saw her. "Nora, are you all right? He asked. She didn't answer, she was just glad to be near him. He was so tall and handsome. Jeffery looked behind her at where her mother and father were. Her mother was yelling something about the lack of clouds, a look of horror spread across Jeffery's face. Nora loved his face, with his clear blue eyes and pointy elfish nose.

Jeffery grabbed hold of Nora's hand. "Nora, you need to come inside with me and you mustn't look back," he said rapidly. She didn't understand why he was so panicked.

Nora saw men dragging her mother to the house. "It wasn't natural, lightening doesn't do that to a human being!" she screamed. Nora wondered where her father was and started to turn around to look for him but Jeffery stopped her. "Nora, look at me." Nora did. She liked looking at Jeffery "You mustn't look. What's back there is not your father, not anymore at least," he said with a disturbed look on his face. "Do you understand me, Nora?" he asked, looking deep in to Nora's eyes, searching for some sort of sign of understanding.

"He has such a nice voice," Nora noted to herself.

"Nora, I need you to understand me, I'm going to take you inside now, I need you to keep your eyes straight ahead and never look back. Can you do this, Nora?" he asked, hopefully. Nora nodded.

"Nora, just look at me," he said as he started to walk backwards slowly. "You're doing well," he said reassuringly. "Just a few more steps and well be home free."

When they reached the house, Jeffery turned away from Nora for a moment to open the door, and before he could stop her, Nora turned around.

2013

"Andre, could you come inside? It's starting to get dark out and we need to finish packing," Shirley insisted.

"Oh, sorry babe," Andre said bashfully, having lost track of time. "I was trying to do something about this patch here." He pointed to a patch of dirt on the otherwise perfect lawn. "I just can't seem to get anything to grow here."

"Well, we'll worry about that when…" Shirley trailed off.

"Babe?" Andre asked. He snapped his fingers in front of his wife's face. "Shirley."

"Huh," Shirley snapped out of her daze. For a moment she could have sworn she saw a man at the door to the observatory, but it must have just been her eyes play tricks on her. "Honey, let just go inside and worry about it later."

Casa De Trobed

"Okay, this bag has all of your camera equipment," Annie said cheerfully. She and her roommates were in the living room, making sure Troy and Abed were ready for their flight.

"Thanks Annie. We couldn't have done this without you," Troy said sincerely.

"Yeah, who knew that you could fit all that stuff in so little luggage?" Britta said sarcastically. Troy and Abed's original plan to bring only camera equipment, sleeping bags, beef jerky and a tent didn't go over too well with Annie, Shirley and Britta, who wanted their friends to not die over spring break, so they made them buy a bunch of supplies and camping gear. At first Troy and Abed they didn't think they could fit all of that stuff in to their luggage, so Annie decided step in and help them.

"I know," Abed said missing the sarcasm. "Where'd you learn to do that, Annie?"

"I was a Girl Scout for twelve years," Annie explained.

"Yeah, you would be a girl scout," Britta mumbled to herself.

"Now, I'm going to be at work when you guys are leaving, so I won't be there to take you to the airport. Will you guys be okay?" Annie asked, concerned.

"Annie, we're adults, I think we can get to the airport by noon," Troy said confidently.

"No Troy, that's when the plane leaves, you guys need to be there at ten," Annie corrected.

Troy's eyes bugged out. "ON A SATURDAY?!"

"Don't worry about it Annie, I'll make they get there on time," Britta said, finally deciding to be helpful.

"When are you going to start house sitting for Shirley?" Abed asked, playing with one of the extra flash lights that Annie was making them bring.

Annie snatched the flash light out of his hand and put it back in the red backpack for emergencies. "Her flight leaves late Monday, but I have Sunday off so I'm going to go over then so I can help them get ready to leave and get to know the place."

"Ugh, I'm so glad that Shirley didn't ask me to house sit; that place creeps me out." Britta shuddered.

"Britta, Muppets creep you out," Annie said, frankly. Abed shook his head in disappointment.

"Okay, that show had some really disturbing moments," Britta exclaimed.

"Britta's right," Troy said thoughtfully.

"What?" Annie exclaimed, Britta smiled smugly and Abed eyes started to bug out.

"No, not about the Muppets, about Shirley's house. Muppets are the bomb." Abed relaxed. "When I was working there on the plumbing at Shirley's, I always felt a little uneasy, like there was someone watching me." Troy shuddered.

"You guys are being silly. Shirley's house is not creepy, it's beautiful," Annie said, logically.

"Whatever, don't believe us. I'm going to bed. 'Night guys," Britta said, giving Troy a kiss before she headed to his room.

After a few silent minutes, Abed spoke again. "It would be the perfect place for a horror film to take place."

"Abed, not you too," Annie groaned. She didn't want to freak herself out about Shirley's place, especiallywhen she was going to spend six nights alone in said house.

"Think about it. While it is beautiful, it's also big, old and secluded. The whole place is surrounded by woods and the only way to civilization is over that bridge. Help's already at least twenty minutes away and if something happened to the bridge, you'd be totally isolated," Abed explained.

"Yeah, beautiful young girl going to a strange old house in the middle of the woods; it's like Horror movie 101," Troy agreed with his friend.

"Not to mention, a lot of classic cinema haunted houses were as breathtaking as they were sinister looking," Abed said. He and Troy shared their secret handshake, both oblivious to Annie's clear discomfort.

"Well as fun as this conversation is," Annie said sarcastically, "I have work tomorrow, so I'm going to bed." She was tired of hearing all the reasons for why the place was creepy. She got up and headed to her room. "Night, guys."

After Annie was gone, Troy turned to his best friend/soul mate. "Hey Abed, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"We should film a horror movie at Shirley's house."

"Yeah."

"Cool," Abed said. "Cool, cool, cool."


	4. Java Funk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Notes: This is a AU of season 4, Jeff didn't Graduate early, so almost all of events of season 4 didn't happen in this story (like the hungry Dean, so Annie never change her major in this). This is because I started writing this before season 4 aired and this is my interpretation of were season 3 left the character and the prompt and I'm not going to change my plan even for the canon. Thank you.

“Okay, Annie, we need a Caramel Funky Java and a Funky Chunky Smoothie.” Annie sighed and looked up at the clock. 12:25. Troy and Abed’s flight should be getting ready to leave now. She hoped that everything would be okay and that they wouldn’t britta their big plans.

“Oh and Annie, when your done with that I’m going to need you to take over the register while I go for a smoke,” Annie’s manager, Mandy said. “I should be back in a half an hour or so, maybe.”

Annie looked at the long line of customers waiting at the register.

“Now? We’re right in the middle of the lunch rush, can’t you wait?” The place was packed because the Starbucks on the other end of the mall was getting fumigated and her coworkers still hadn’t gotten used to the increased numbers.

Mandy glared at her and said “How ‘bout you stop bitching and do what I say or I’ll kick your skinny little white ass? Capisce?” Annie sighed and nodded reluctantly. For some unknown reason Mandy hated her guts from the moment they’d met and was dedicated to making Annie miserable. Annie was still confused as to why Mandy hired her, but the pay was good enough, so she didn’t risk asking.

“Billy, get your ass out of the goddamn storage room, I need you to make some goddamn coffee for dumb-ass sheep,” Mandy yelled. This earned her a dirty look from a mother with some small children. “What are you looking at, you fat cow?” Mandy responded. The mother scoffed and grabbed her six thousand calorie drink order and left the place in a huff.

“Seriously, the nerve of some people! Okay Annie, Billy’s going to make the drink, don’t try to rush him, just let him go at his own pace and everything will be fine. If any the ‘customers’,” Mandy air quoted, “give you a hard time, tell them to screw themselves. If they keep bitching, tell them to fucking get out and go to MacDonald’s. And above all else, don’t let Billy talk to anybody, ever. Okay? Good. See ya later, bitches,” Mandy said leaving the shop. 

Annie sighed and walked over to the register to take the orders of the long line of angry, impatient customers who were used to the well, oiled machine that was Starbucks. “This is going to be a long shift,” Annie thought to herself.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  
Thirty minutes later Annie was relieved that the lunch rush was almost over, and there was only a handful of customers in line and still lingering at the tables. Annie had Billy go back in to the storage room a little while back when things quieted down, it was faster now to just do it all herself. Nothing too bad had happened, the only incident was when one guy got impatient waiting for Billy to make his coffee and pushed to the front of the line and demanded a refund, which Annie gave him. Billy muttered, “Mandy wouldn’t have liked that,” but Annie ignored him. Mandy still hadn’t come back and probably wasn’t going to. It wouldn’t be the first time she skipped work. Annie had complained to their boss but he told her that they couldn’t fire her because she had “friends in high places,” which made Annie wonder why she was working here?

Annie sighed and finished the order and called out the order, “One Funkuccino and Monkey Beard for Judy.”

Then she went to the register to help the next customer, who was a really tall man in a train conductor uniform who was texting on his phone. Annie figured he must have worked at the train themed restaurant/train model store across the street. Annie couldn’t see the man’s face from under his hat and he didn’t seem to notice she was there, or he just hadn’t bothered to looked up from his phone yet.

“Hello, welcome to Java Funk, what would you like to order today?”

“Oh umm…” He finally looked up for his phone and greeted Annie with a very familiar face.

“Jeff?” Annie said in surprised.

“Annie!” Jeff said stunned, he was unaware that Annie worked there.

Annie burst in to laughter.

“What?” Jeff was now regretting that he didn’t drive the five minutes to the closest open Starbucks.

“Sorry, but… your outfit.” Annie managed to squeak out between giggles.

“Well you look like thanksgiving of 1975 threw up all over you,” Jeff said weakly and pointed to her uniform which was a turkey brown A-line dress with orange and yellow striped hem.

Annie ignored his jab at her uniform and continued to giggle. “It looks like you work at Choo Choo Charlie’s.”

Jeff didn’t say anything. Annie gasped.

“You are working at Charlie’s, aren't you!”

Jeff remained silent.

“Tell the truth Jeff, or I my slip up and mention it to the dean when I see him later.”

“Go ahead. He was banned from this location.”

“AHA! I got you!”

“Damn it!”

Annie smile faded. “Jeff why are working at Charlie’s? I thought you had a consulting job at your old firm.”

“Well, when did you start working here? I thought worked at a nursing home or something,” Jeff said, trying to divert the conversation away from him.

“Yeah, it closed down a month ago after my old boss and his secretary ran off to Rio with all his patients’ money. Remember they had an episode of Scandal Maker about it? Now stop trying to divert the conversation. What’s going on with you? You’ve been distant… well more distant than usual.”

“Hey babe, could you stop flirting with your boyfriend, some of us have places to be,” the man behind Jeff interrupted.

“He’s not my boyfriend.” Annie said bashfully, the man gave her an “I don’t give a crap” look. “It’ll just be one more minute,” Annie said to the man, before turning back to Jeff. “We need to talk. When do you get off of work?”

Jeff thought this over, he could lie and say he didn’t get off work tell much later, but that wouldn’t really stop Annie, and he’d be risking her bringing it up in front of the group, which he was not ready for. No, it would be better to fess up and be honest this time so he could manipulate Annie into keeping it between them.

“I just got off,” he sighed.

“Oh, well take a seat and let me finish up with these customers and then we’ll talk.”

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  
   
“One small black coffee, one sugar.”

Jeff looked up from his phone. Annie stood in front of him with two cups of coffee and a paper bag in hand. “Wrong,” Jeff said smugly.

What this is what you always order when the group gets coffee”

Jeff raises his eyebrow at her. “On a normal day, maybe, but today I need the whole pot.”

“Oh, well I can get you that if you want.”

“No, just sit, this will be fine.” Annie sat across from him.

“Are you trying to pull a Shirley and butter me up with baked goods?”

“What?”

“The bag”

“Oh, that’s my lunch,” Annie said taking a tuna sandwich out of the bag. “I don’t have any baked goods but you can have half my sandwich and some grapes,” she offered

Jeff wrinkled his nose “No, I'm good.” Annie suddenly regretted her choice in lunch.

“So this place seems...”

“Tacky,” Annie filled in.

“Actually what I was going to say is it looks like a place Pierce might frequent.”

“He does,” Annie said bluntly, which caused Jeff to tense and looked like he was getting ready to make a break for it. “Don't worry, he already left for Pawnee.” Jeff relaxed. They sat in silence for a minute or two while Annie ate a little bit of her sandwich and Jeff took a couple sips of his coffee. This should have felt completely comfortable. Well, that’s not true. Things with Annie were never completely comfortable; there was always this something strange that hung over them, and the added awkwardness was making Jeff feel like he is going to explode. For some reason, he just couldn’t stop the truth bubbling to the surface like he normally did. 

“Alan blacklisted me. That why I'm working at Charlie’s.” Jeff blurted out.

“What? How?”Annie asked in shock.

Jeff shrugged. “I'm not sure how, but somehow he used his connections to make it impossible to be able to get a job at a firm in Colorado.”

This caused Annie to raise an eyebrow. “Alan has enough power to do that?”

“Apparently so.” Jeff sighed frustrated.

“I'm sorry.”

“Don't be, it's not your fault that Alan is a total dick.”

“Um, Jeff?”

“Yeah?”

“Why didn’t you say anything about it to us?”

“Well it’s our last year as a study group together, I just wanted to enjoy it with you guys. Besides, the thing with my dad was bad enough that I didn't what to bog things down with more of my drama.” Jeff took a sip of his coffee. “Besides if I did, Britta would have forced more of her pitiful attempts to therapise me”

“Yeah, I think we need to hold an intervention for her.”

“Tell me about it. Last week she asked me to “help” the lunch ladies work together better, and let’s just say it didn't turn out well.”

“Is that why the skinny one has an eye-patch now?” Annie asked

“Yeah.” Jeff and Annie shared a laugh before she sobered.

“What are you going to do? I mean after graduation?” she asked.

“An old colleague of mine offered me a job at the new firm he started.”

“That great news! You really had me worried there.”

“But it’s in Vegas,” he explained.

“Oh. But what about us?” Annie asked, then realized how that sounded. “Us as in the study group, I mean,” she clarified.

“Well it’s not like it's the 1970's or something we can text. And besides, it’s only two states over, not the other side of the world, so I could fly up every couple of weeks.”

“I know, but it won't be the same.”

“Yeah, but we all knew this would happen sooner or later, if not me going to Vegas, it would have been LA or New York for Abed, and you’re going to transfer to a university for nursing, right?” Annie tensed at this a little, but Jeff didn't noticed. “Or god knows, Troy could end up going to...actually I have no idea what Troy’s doing. Is he still in the air conditioning repair program?”

“Kind of, but he doesn't really want to commit to anything yet.” 

“Okay, well, the point is that we are all going to eventuality going to move on with our lives and as much as I love you guys, I'm too close to getting what I want to turn back now.”

“When were you going to telling us?”

“I was thinking maybe just after finals.”

“I guess I understand why you are doing this. Our group isn't the most supportive of change, but the longer you wait to tell them the worse it’ll be.”

“Well as bad as they are, I actually didn't want the dean to find out and try and sabotage me graduating. You seen how upset he is about me leaving Greendale, imagine his reaction when I leave the state.”

“Well that understandable I guess, but I still think this whole situation sucks.”

“You think it sucks? I'm the one having to move to Nevada,” Jeff remarked, this made Annie smile a bit but then she got a concerned look on her face.

“Jeff, can I ask you for some personal advice?” she asked timidly. Jeff raised his eyebrow. 

“Okay,” he said, a little uncertain.

“Well...” but before Annie could continue, she was interrupted by someone suddenly hitting there table hard with a purse. “What the hell are you doing?” Mandy yelled.

“Um, taking a lunch break with a friend.”

“Well, while you were eye fucking Franken-forehead -” Jeff’s hand immediately went to his forehead and Annie blushed a little. “Billy has been dealing with customers.” Mandy pointed to the register, where Billy yelled at Garrett, “WHY ARE YOU BUGGING ME?!” to which Garrett replied, “I JUST WANT SOME COFFEE!”

“Oh, I guess I must have spaced out.”

Mandy scoffed and said, “I would fire you but you’re not worth the paperwork,” then walked away.

“Wow, she...” 

“Yeah,” Annie sighed. “I probably need to get back to work. Maybe we could talk a little later, after I get off?”

“I'd like to but I can't, I promised I’d go to Denver to have dinner with my mom and her new boyfriend. Which usually ends with me getting really drunk and have to spend the night in a hotel.” 

“Oh,” Annie said, getting that sad look on her face that always made Jeff feel like a dick. Jeff sighed.

“Maybe, since we both work around here we, if we happen to work around the same time, maybe we could hang out after work; like get lunch or dinner or catch a movie or something…” Jeff began to ramble.

”Sure, I would love that,” Annie said, smiling as she cut him off.

“Yeah, and if the conversation were to come back to this and you feel the need to ask me for some advice, I guess I wouldn't be entirely opposed to that.”

“Are you sure about that? You know I might take you up on that offer.”

“Well, I guess that’s a risk I'm willing to take to be a good friend.” This made Annie smile even wider and Jeff couldn't help smiling back.

“Well, I'd better get back to work.”

“Yeah, I should probably be heading home.” Jeff and Annie stand up and start to gather there things up. When Annie suddenly turned to him. 

“Oh, and I won't tell anyone about the thing we talked about today.” Jeff smiled and mentally gave himself a high five, before thanking her. Annie started to walk away but before she got too far she turned back to Jeff. “Also, Jeff could you do me a favor?”

“What’s the favor?”

“Could you maybe put in a good word for me at Charlie’s?”

If it had been anyone else, the answer would have been no; it would have made it more likely for people to find out he worked there. But since it was Annie, he just smiled and said, “I'll see what I can do.” This earned him a big smile and a hug. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  
Annie's Room

Annie sat on her bed smiling while she put hanging out with Jeff in her in her planner. For the most part, her day was not the greatest. Work was Hell and Troy and Abed got so distracted playing Inspector Spacetime that they almost missing their flight, then in the rush to leave they forgot half of their luggage. 

But the Idea of spending time with Jeff just the two of them made her really excited, and extremely nervous. There was something she needed to discuss that made Annie’s stomach turn with anxiety. 

Annie looked over at an open envelope that sat on her desk. She got up off the bed and slowly walked over to her desk and picked it up. Inside was both the most beautiful and the most terrifying Annie had ever seen. Annie sat down on the bed, pulled some pages out of the envelope and stared to read them.

Outside a man sat in the tree just outside Annie's window and watched her, smiling to him. It was all going perfectly according to his plan. 

With that thought he vanished in to the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about this being so late, I've been really busy with school.


End file.
